![The mostly absent Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (middle) / [Image by Joint Chiefs of Staff via Flickr, CC BY 2.0]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/7/9/660x290/b_502x220x82/the-mostly-absent-secretary-of-state-rex-tillerson-middle-image-by-joint-chiefs-of-staff-via-flickr-cc-by-20_1434077.jpg "The mostly absent Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (middle) / [Image by Joint Chiefs of Staff via Flickr, CC BY 2.0]")
For the first several months of the Trump administration, as Rex Tillerson settled into his new role as Secretary of State, there was no indication that he would use the entirety of the State Department as it was intended. From the beginning, he has remained very stand-offish. For instance, it was reported that he kept to himself, did not engage any of the employees there and since then has done his part to help Trump try to cripple the department as the President wanted.
With the President's recent trip to Hamburg for the G20 Summit, it was reported that Tillerson was one of the three aides that accompanied the President to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It's been suggested in various reports that Rex Tillerson might be taking the initiative to be a better Secretary of State.
Tillerson 'loses it' with DeStefano
Politico reported over the past few weeks, however, that Tillerson revealed his frustration over the slow pace of filling positions at the State Department during a meeting in front of White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Jared Kushner and others. One would expect that with an administration that has develop a callous against negative reporting that there would hardly be any tender spots left to hit.
But it appears that much of the negative reporting the Secretary of State has received over being a useless Secretary finally got to him.
Over the past several months, Tillerson had reportedly wanted to bring on his own picks for the Department but was denied. This was one of the reasons he was reportedly frustrated at the meeting, causing him to blow up on Johnny DeStefano, who is the Director of Presidential Personnel who was responsible for shooting down his picks.
A weaker secretary than expected
There were apparently no formalities here as he told DeStefano that he knew better than he about who he should hire for his department and it was reported that he had raised his voice. If that were not enough, Kushner apparently said to Tillerson's Chief of Staff that what the Secretary had just done was unprofessional and that they needed to work something out.
Kushner no doubt also plays a role in Tillerson's outburst as the President's son-in-law has taking the role that Tillerson is supposed to have and acted as the President's own Secretary of State.
DeStefano's age along with the power he has over the Secretary of State also plays into his frustration. Tillerson was already the CEO of Exxon Mobil and far more capable and experienced with executive roles than DeStefano. It's been said that the pace of hiring had been lagging but has apparently begun to pick up but with no indication that the Secretary of State will get the okay from people like DeStefano. Nonetheless, there are already reports that Tillerson might be taking more initiative in his position than he has before as he travels to the Ukraine and Turkey.
